First time dealing with Ick, both my clowns have it? please help

[marcos77]

Hi, today I noticed that both my clowns, the sabae and the percula have ick. It was hardly noticeable this morning but as the day progressed it has spread all over their body and fins. I feed them 4 different types of food with a combination of flake, frozen, cycop-peez and pellets. I've had these fish now for about a month and they were doing great. Yesterday I did do a 15% water change on my 18G tank and I let the water aerate for about 3 hours with a powerhead before adding it to my main tank, normally I let it sit over night before using it. The salinity matched my main tank but I didn't bother to check the temp, I don't know if this could have caused it? I had also added a coral to my tank yesterday after doing the water change. Water today tested perfect but ph is a little low, it tested 8.06 right before the lights went out. I did buy some kalk to raise my ph without affecting my already high alkalinity which is about 12.6 dkh or 4.50 mequ/l. I don't know what could have stressed out my clowns, now they have ick. What should I do? Should purchase a small 10g tank, heater and pump so that I can treat them with copper? Or fresh water dip them? I only have these two fish in my tank. From my understanding, I thought that ick is always present in a tank, as it is in the ocean but it only targets fish which are stressed with a weak immune system. I don't know maybe i'm wrong.

[pyrrhus]

buy the hospital tank. i suggest using copper, other people suggest hyposalinity. at any rate, make sure you dont overdose the copper med and keep the fish in QT for at least a month to let the ich run its life cycle or you risk reinfection. you are pretty much correct about ich always being present. the exception is fish treated prophalactically for ich, they should not carry the parasite at all. my favorite LFS always treats for ich adn other diseases in advance of any problems and has one of teh best run stores in teh country. if possible seek out a LFS in your area that does similar procedures for future livestock purchases.

[marcos77]

Thanks for the reply, tomorrow I'm going out to purchase the hospital tank.

 

1. Would a 10g be ok?

 

2. What else should I get for the quarantine tank? Heater, powerhead or air pump with airstone?

 

3. Since the quarantine tank isn't cycled and without a filter, would I have to add amquel to detoxify the build up of ammonia?

 

4. By placing both clowns in the hospital tank for a whole month, will this also let the ich run its life cycle in the main tank as well?

 

After the cycle is complete then technically I shouldn't have to worry about my fish getting ich anymore even if they happen to get stressed out, unless I introduce it into my tank by purchasing a new fish that is carrying ich, right?

[pyrrhus]

1. a 10g would be perfect

2. a heater is not a bad idea for temperature stability= less stress

a simple air driven filter like the ones used for FW would work great, and if you got a second sponge you could put in the established tank to innoculate it with bacteria. alternatively you could buy some Biozyme the stuff costs about 4 bucks and will cycle the tank quickly.

3. amquel+ would not be a bad idea, i havent found it to be necessary, but it couldnt hurt. and you should have at least some kind of airlift or powerhead driven sponge filter.

4. it may be a good idea to wait a little longer than a month, i believe 38 days has been found to be the maximum lifespan for ich without a host.

 

and finally im not totally sure about the last question but it goes to reason that you shouldnt have to worry about ich ever again, even if you do get a new fish as you will have a QT to keep the fish in to make sure it doesnt bring in any parasites or illness.

[pyrrhus]

if possible put teh sponge filter in your fuge for a couple of days to inoculate it with bacteria.

[marcos77]

thanks everyone for the great advice

[brusinn]

hey, take the clowns one by one out of the tank set the clown in freshwater in 15 seconds 2 times a day, it works, the ichbacteria will die in freshwater, the fish will be ok in the freshwater, DO IT

[marcos77]

I setup a 5G hospital tank using an air driven filter and heater. My heater malfunctioned and it rose my temperature to about 100 F. I woke up this morning and noticed that my clowns were swimming near the surface, they didn't look great. One was starting to float on his side, I immediately unplug the heater and dropped in some icecubes, about 7 of them. I also pured in about 3 cups of RO water room temperature. Temperature went down to 80 in a period of 4 hours. Fish are doing fine now, but that was close. Fish don't appear to have any ich anymore, maybe it was the high temp. with the copper treatment? I will continue to quarantine them in my hospital tank for a period of at least a month before placing them back in my tank. I guess that's what happens when you buy a $9 dollar heater.

[pyrrhus]

you get what you pay for.

[MrKrispy]

I recommend reading the Fish Disease forum at RC. Several good articles about treating ich, and several that dispel many urban legends about marine ich (including dips, ich always present, etc...)

 

I have to treat for it also, just wanted to pass it along...

[brahm]

Originally posted by MrKrispy

I recommend reading the Fish Disease forum at RC.   Several good articles about treating ich, and several that dispel many urban legends about marine ich (including dips, ich always present, etc...)

 

I have to treat for it also, just wanted to pass it along...

 

I agree, the desease forum there is great.